Sufficiency and Sacrifice

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to evaluate how we determine the level of sufficiency we maintain and our trust in Providence to supply what we need.

Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest

The Book of Proverbs offers a prayer against lying words and for sufficiency of goods.

* [30:5–6] Verse 5, like the confession of the king in Ps 18:31 (and its parallel, 2 Sm 22:31), expresses total confidence in the one who rescues from death. Agur has refused a word from any other except God and makes an act of trust in God.

* [30:7–9] A prayer against lying words and for sufficiency of goods, lest reaction to riches or destitution lead to offenses against God. (Proverbs, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 119 delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts.

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke advocates relying on Providence in The Mission of the Twelve

* [9:1–6] Armed with the power and authority that Jesus himself has been displaying in the previous episodes, the Twelve are now sent out to continue the work that Jesus has been performing throughout his Galilean ministry: (1) proclaiming the kingdom (Lk 4:43; 8:1); (2) exorcising demons (Lk 4:33–37, 41; 8:26–39) and (3) healing the sick (Lk 4:38–40; 5:12–16, 17–26; 6:6–10; 7:1–10, 17, 22; Lk 8:40–56).

* [9:3] Take nothing for the journey: the absolute detachment required of the disciple (Lk 14:33) leads to complete reliance on God (Lk 12:22–31).

* [9:5] Shake the dust from your feet: see note on Mt 10:14. (Luke, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Nancy Shirley explains that we can forgive yet still expect accountability for the transgression.

As we say the Our Father at every mass, the idea of asking for forgiveness of our trespasses is contingent upon us forgiving those who have trespassed against us. Thus, we must forgive to be forgiven. It is a challenge for me at times to know if I have actually forgiven as I still remember very well the “trespass.” Yet, I do not seek retribution for the act, rather just a feeling of wanting to shake the dust from my feet and move on and no longer include this person as part of my life. The struggle is real and the solution allusive to me still. I want to be loving and forgiving but my humanness does not want to expose myself again to the hurt or damages caused by the person. The question remains to me: can I forgive seventy-seven times and still shake the dust and walk away?

As I was thinking about a song to connect to this reflection, I thought of the song about being a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody. I got into the car and the first song on K-Love was the very song I was considering. Another God-wink!! Here it is …

Nobody by Casting Crowns (Shirley, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus gave power and authority to his apostles,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"The grace bestowed upon the holy apostles is worthy of all admiration. But the bountifulness of the Giver surpasses all praise and admiration. He gives them, as I said, his own glory. They receive authority over the evil spirits. They reduce to nothing the pride of the devil that was so highly exalted and arrogant. They render ineffectual the demon's wickedness. By the might and efficacy of the Holy Spirit, burning them as if they were on fire, they make the devil come forth with groans and weeping from those whom he had possessed... He glorified his disciples, therefore, by giving them authority and power over the evil spirits and over sicknesses. Did he honor them without reason and make them famous without any logical cause? How can this be true? It was necessary, most necessary, that they should be able to work miracles, having been publicly appointed ministers of sacred proclamations. By means of their works, they then could convince men that they were the ministers of God and mediators of all beneath the heaven. The apostles then could invite them all to reconciliation and justification by faith and point out the way of salvation and of life that is this justification." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 47) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments in the passage from Proverbs today the first grouping of the text are the words of God and the direction to hold to them. The author offers a prayer not to have too much, not too little but only what he needs. The Gospel presents the mandate to the Apostles to take nothing and God will provide. In Luke, trust in Providence is part of reaching out to the anawim, those excluded from the society. Friar Jude notes that Apostles should become anawim to trust in God and know you will not make it without Him.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 9:1-6 comments that the message of Jesus, of the apostles, and of the Church is twofold. First, “The kingdom of God is at hand!” Everyone welcomes that exciting news. But then comes the call: “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Change your heart. Turn away from sin. Humble yourself before the Lord.

This is where we get caught. We forget that we are sinners. We forget that Jesus came to take away our sins—and to do it not by himself but very much with our cooperation. Or we forget that repentance is a lifelong pursuit as we continue to learn more about ourselves and the areas of our lives that we might try to shield from the Lord.

But God is persistent. And he is patient. The key is to not close the door on him abruptly when you feel resistance in your heart. Instead, let him in and just listen. Give him the chance to show you the freedom that comes when you repent and believe!

“Lord, help me to welcome you into all aspects of my life.” (Meditation on Luke 9:1-6, n.d.)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, reminds us that embodying nonviolence requires facing the structures of violence in our culture, church, and world. We seem to have assumed that the individual must live the gospel but that the corporate church doesn’t have to. We Christians expected individuals to be poor while the institution remained rich. This cannot be right. We have to live the gospel not just individually but institutionally, socially, and corporately.

Having traveled and taught in many countries, I have learned to recognize many of the beautiful aspects of the United States. We have historically enjoyed many privileges in terms of freedom, education, and resources. Yet I have also seen America’s shadow side, particularly our insistence on individuality. If our prayer journey does not lead us to a collective sense of servanthood and responsibility for the world, I think we will have failed in our willingness to deal with the violence of the world. I think the violence will continue as long as much of the world views us as a part of an oppressive system. In many respects, they’re not wrong! Only one thing is more difficult to deal with than the individual ego, and that’s the corporate ego, which is usually more disguised, protected, and denied. Unless we’re willing to face it, we will continue to participate in cycles of anger, hatred, and violence rather than healing and justice. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)

Richard ties our acceptance of violence to the belief that Jesus’s violent death was necessary for God to forgive us:

Our commonly accepted atonement theory—especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Jesus—reaffirmed our narrow notion of retributive justice and legitimated a notion of “good and necessary violence” all the way down. As long as we employ any retributive notion of God’s justice, we trade our distinctive Christian message for the cold, hard justice that has prevailed in most cultures throughout history. We offer no redemptive alternative to history but actually sanctify the very “powers and principalities” that Paul says unduly control the world (Ephesians 3:9–10, 6:12). We stay inside of what some call the “myth of redemptive violence,” which might just be the dominant story line of history. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the consolation of the Spirit as we work through our motivation to work with Christ in the environment of our community to be apostles of faith, hope, and love.

References

Luke, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?1 

Meditation on Luke 9:1-6. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/09/23/1674954/ 

Proverbs, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/proverbs/30? 

Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Corporate Violence Met by Corporate Good. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/corporate-violence-met-by-corporate-good/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus Gave Them Authority over All Demons and Diseases. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/? 

Shirley, N. (n.d.). Daily Reflection September 23, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-23-2026